The Motor Age

As was the case in other countries, the internal-combustion engine profoundly affected New Zealand. It is not known exactly when the first motor vehicle appeared in New Zealand, but several early attempts were made to construct them. It is said that a three-wheeled machine was built in Timaru in 1896, using a fuel mixture made up by a local chemist. In 1898 McLean, of Wellington, imported two Benz cars, and the McLean Motor Car Act of the same year recognised the fact that the new vehicle had arrived. There were some limitations on the use of the vehicle and a few local bodies tried to exclude it from certain roads altogether on the grounds that horses and other farm stock would be frightened.

Early records of motor-vehicle registrations, which were made by local bodies, are incomplete, but estimates from fragmentary data would seem to show that there were at least 500 motor vehicles, mostly cars, on the roads in 1905. By 1910 the total had grown to probably 3,500; by 1915 the rate of growth had accelerated to an estimated 17,000. By the end of 1920 there were about 50,000 motor vehicles on the local body registers. The Motor Vehicle Registration Act of 1924 provided for a centralised system of motor registrations under the Post Office and, at the first national census of June 1925, there were 106,000 motor vehicles registered, including 71,000 private or business cars, 22,000 motor cycles, 1,030 motor buses, and more than 11,000 (mainly small) trucks.

New Zealand has today probably more private cars per capita than any other country except the United States. Practically all car components are imported, though most cars are assembled locally. Since the war, shortage of overseas exchange has reduced car imports to the extent that there is a large demand for new cars, which, if satisfied, would bring about a marked rise in the index quoted. One effect has been to increase the number of old cars in the private car fleet, about two-thirds of which are over 20 years old, and their lack of efficiency and high cost of running constitute an indirect but very real economic loss to the country.

The following table shows the numbers of cars at 10-year intervals from 31 December 1925 to 1955, also for 1962 to 1964.

*Excludes Government-owned cars, but includes these in the 1964 figures.

The private motorcar is no longer the luxury it was in the 1920s. It is a necessity now in many New Zealanders' opinion, if only of slightly less priority than family housing. One tends to regard the private car as merely an instrument of pleasure, like a television set. The increased mobility it has brought has widened our culture and economic life and has largely helped to foster national, as distinct from local, thinking. In the days of horses few New Zealand farmers were able to make more than a weekly trip to town and many considered themselves fortunate if they were able to travel to town once in six months. Twenty miles was then considered to be a long way to travel in one day. The car has, however, made farm life more tolerable and the farmer is able more easily to manage his affairs. It has, in the same way, become an essential part of modern business, especially of salesmanship. It is handy for the family and allows the wage earner to live far from his job and at the same time avoid the “tyranny of the time-table”.

Commercial Motor Transport

It is not known exactly when the first motor truck was imported into New Zealand, but its usefulness had been well established by 1912 when it was suggested in Parliament that motor-buses and motor wagons should be used instead of light railways. It was said that much wool was being carried by motor lorry. Another innovation was the service car, which was used in public passenger work in Otago from 1910 onwards. Horses, however, were still used for freighting until after the First World War, mainly because trucks were costly to buy and run. A horse could be shod cheaply and quickly; a set of truck tyres cost £150 or more and often took two days to fit. The war advanced the efficiency and production of motor vehicles and large numbers were available from 1919 onwards, and many returned soldiers were experienced in driving and servicing them.

The following table shows the 10-yearly numbers of trucks, omnibuses, and service cars on the register from 31 December 1925 to 1955, also for 1962 to 1964 (1925 figures for trucks only are available).

*Excludes Government-owned trucks and local body “exempted” trucks, but in the 1964 figures Government-owned trucks are included and local body “exempted” trucks are still excluded.

The growth of the national fleet of commercial vehicles is a significant event of New Zealand's economic history. The railways were the first to feel the effects, and much of the more costly freight traffic was diverted to motor vehicles. The effect is somewhat obscured. Between 1920 and 1930 the tonnage of railway freight traffic rose from 6 million tons to 7,800,000 tons, but it is clear that, but for the competition from road transport, the tonnage carried in 1930 would have been much higher. In the same period fewer passengers were carried in other than the suburban areas. But the motor vehicle made its greatest contribution in the country areas beyond railheads and in urban delivery. It appeared in large numbers during a time when New Zealand was extending its farming frontier. This called for fast, efficient, and economical transport beyond the power of the horse to fulfil, and though horses and railways played a small part, the motor truck filled the need. Road improvements and the invention of pneumatic tyres have increased speeds, loads, and area of operation and have enabled the motor vehicle to exceed even the railways in developmental capacity per unit of capital. But the benefits have not been limited to one industry. The motor vehicle has been a factor of very great importance in the production, for example, of meat and wool and, recently, has shown that it has decisive advantages over its rivals for moving sheep, pigs, and cattle, even over long distances. It has become more and more used in the timber industry and also, though on a more limited scale, in mining.

By 1931 the advantages of motor transport had proved so decisive that the Government decided to limit the activities of road transport to preserve the financial structure of the railways; thus the principle of licensing of road, passenger, and freight-transport services was introduced in the Transport Licensing Act of 1931. It was extended to town carriers, taxicab, and rental vehicle services in 1939, and, in 1949, to harbour-ferry services. This legislation created a partial monopoly in public road transport by limiting entry to the industry. Restrictions on space preclude any analysis of the legislation or of the necessary later amendments, but there is little doubt that the original aim of the legislation to confer on the railways some measure of protection from road transport has been fulfilled. At the same time, the public road-transport industry has expanded considerably, but it is difficult to say just how far its growth has been retarded or its financial results benefited by the licensing legislation.

The efficiency of commercial motor vehicles, such as trucks, as well as omnibuses and service coaches, has advanced considerably in the years following the Second World War. The ratio of horsepower to weight has increased, not only because of improvements in the efficiency of petrol and diesel engines, but also because of the extensive use of alloy metals and plastics in motor bodies. Improved braking systems and transmission, and innovations such as air suspension, have borne fruit in the form of greater safety and comfort for passengers. The use of vehicles specially built to carry certain classes of goods only has been extended. In the dairy industry, which owes so much to the use of the earliest classes of motor vehicles, the modern milk tanker, for example, has brought about considerable economies in the collection and unloading of milk and cream. Much greater use is now made of diesel-engined trucks and passenger-service vehicles from which, in certain classes of work, marked economies can be expected.

Impact on Industry

The introduction of the licensing of passenger and goods services and, later, of town carriers, taxi, and rental-vehicle services has created an industry the ownership of which is represented by influential and highly organised bodies, such as the New Zealand Road Transport Alliance, the New Zealand Carriers' Federation, and other organisations representing the passenger, taxi, and rental-vehicle industries. In the striking development of the industry in the post-war years these bodies have played a significant part by promoting the interests of the operators in every possible way. Since 1938 the goods industry has nearly doubled its fleet of trucks and other specialised vehicles, while the proportional increase in carrying capacity has been even higher. Public carriers now run nearly 21,000 vehicles. There has, nevertheless, been an even greater increase in ancillary transport in vehicles owned by traders, farmers, and all other persons or firms carrying their own goods. In 1938 there were four ancillary trucks for every truck owned by a private operator; today there are seven. Increases in public carriers' charges and the prestige and convenience of owning transport have helped to bring about this increase in ancillary transport. Much of it is used far below full capacity and certainly with less efficiency than is the case with public carriers. Similar reasoning applies to the fleet of over half a million private and business cars using the roads. This is, of course, a manifestation of individual freedom in the free-enterprise economy. No solution to the problem is likely to be found, but it is, nevertheless, a waste of economic resources.

The growth of motor transport can be partially seen in the following estimates for the calendar year 1964.

Privately owned cars carry perhaps at least twice as many passengers as public transport.

Besides the enormous contribution it has made to the farming industry, motor transport is proving indispensable elsewhere – in bulk-haulage work, for example, which only a few years ago was thought the province of the railways. Although there is still a good case for protecting the railways, the legal restrictions on the use of road transport for long distances have tended to create the impression that it is uneconomic for this work, an impression which has been effectively dispelled in many other countries.

The disadvantages of the motor vehicle cannot be overlooked. There has been a heavy toll of deaths and injuries on New Zealand roads. Since 1921 over 10,000 people have been killed and over 250,000 injured, many of them seriously. Though it is hard to assess the economic cost of accidents, it would appear, on a moderate estimate, that at least £15,000,000 a year is now lost. The country's fleet of cars (including business cars) alone costs about £130 million a year to run. Motor vehicles have not yet caused air pollution in New Zealand, as they have done elsewhere, but such effects will in time appear. Any realistic assessment of the economic and social contribution of the motor vehicle cannot ignore these facts.

by Norman Frederick Watkins, M.COM., Research Officer, Transport Department, Wellington.

ROAD TRANSPORT

The pre-European Maoris had neither roads nor draught animals, and although there was a primitive and spasmodic form of trade in greenstone, preserved birds, and feathers and fish, they used rafts or canoes, or travelled on foot, usually in single file, over primitive tracks. The pa at Kaiapohia (Kaiapoi), in the South Island, is said to have been supplied with food by relays of porters who travelled in stages between prearranged depots carrying loads of 100 lb or more. The lack of roads obstructed European colonisation. In the early years packhorses had to be used extensively. Bullocks soon arrived from Australia and, in suitable terrain or on the few formed or partly formed roads, they proved to be immensely superior to the packhorses. They could carry heavier loads, needed no shoeing, ate less expensive food, and could be turned out at night without covers even in bitter weather. Thus bullock transport was favoured and, in some instances, continued until the 1920s.

Gradually, however, horse-drawn drays or other conveyances replaced the bullock teams because they were quicker. A horse team could move twice as fast as a bullock team, thus saving drivers' wages. Horse transport lasted for over 60 years. There were many times when the railways, especially in Canterbury, lost traffic to horse-drawn drays, and, less often, to Cobb and Company's coaches. But it was inevitable that steam should enter into road transport. In 1869 and 1870 several Thompson Road Steamers, running on rubber tyres, were imported, but their unreliability, their inability to run on rough roads, and their voracious appetite for coal and water made them quite unsuitable. From 1880 onwards efficient steam-traction engines began to be imported and in certain districts they brought about a minor revolution in heavy-freight haulage by road. In Canterbury, for example, traction engines reduced the journey time and, usually, the costs of hauling wool from the back-country sheep stations. Carting wheat in dray loads to the railhead or stores was uneconomic, especially when the horses were needed for the next season's farm work. The traction engine, which could haul considerable loads, soon competed with the railways, for, among other advantages, there was no need of transhipment at stations or rail depots. Large numbers were used in various parts of New Zealand until the outbreak of the First World War. The traction engine was almost indispensable for hauling heavy equipment from railheads to such construction works as power stations in the back-country areas.

The Motor Age

As was the case in other countries, the internal-combustion engine profoundly affected New Zealand. It is not known exactly when the first motor vehicle appeared in New Zealand, but several early attempts were made to construct them. It is said that a three-wheeled machine was built in Timaru in 1896, using a fuel mixture made up by a local chemist. In 1898 McLean, of Wellington, imported two Benz cars, and the McLean Motor Car Act of the same year recognised the fact that the new vehicle had arrived. There were some limitations on the use of the vehicle and a few local bodies tried to exclude it from certain roads altogether on the grounds that horses and other farm stock would be frightened.

Early records of motor-vehicle registrations, which were made by local bodies, are incomplete, but estimates from fragmentary data would seem to show that there were at least 500 motor vehicles, mostly cars, on the roads in 1905. By 1910 the total had grown to probably 3,500; by 1915 the rate of growth had accelerated to an estimated 17,000. By the end of 1920 there were about 50,000 motor vehicles on the local body registers. The Motor Vehicle Registration Act of 1924 provided for a centralised system of motor registrations under the Post Office and, at the first national census of June 1925, there were 106,000 motor vehicles registered, including 71,000 private or business cars, 22,000 motor cycles, 1,030 motor buses, and more than 11,000 (mainly small) trucks.

New Zealand has today probably more private cars per capita than any other country except the United States. Practically all car components are imported, though most cars are assembled locally. Since the war, shortage of overseas exchange has reduced car imports to the extent that there is a large demand for new cars, which, if satisfied, would bring about a marked rise in the index quoted. One effect has been to increase the number of old cars in the private car fleet, about two-thirds of which are over 20 years old, and their lack of efficiency and high cost of running constitute an indirect but very real economic loss to the country.

The following table shows the numbers of cars at 10-year intervals from 31 December 1925 to 1955, also for 1962 to 1964.

*Excludes Government-owned cars, but includes these in the 1964 figures.

The private motorcar is no longer the luxury it was in the 1920s. It is a necessity now in many New Zealanders' opinion, if only of slightly less priority than family housing. One tends to regard the private car as merely an instrument of pleasure, like a television set. The increased mobility it has brought has widened our culture and economic life and has largely helped to foster national, as distinct from local, thinking. In the days of horses few New Zealand farmers were able to make more than a weekly trip to town and many considered themselves fortunate if they were able to travel to town once in six months. Twenty miles was then considered to be a long way to travel in one day. The car has, however, made farm life more tolerable and the farmer is able more easily to manage his affairs. It has, in the same way, become an essential part of modern business, especially of salesmanship. It is handy for the family and allows the wage earner to live far from his job and at the same time avoid the “tyranny of the time-table”.

Commercial Motor Transport

It is not known exactly when the first motor truck was imported into New Zealand, but its usefulness had been well established by 1912 when it was suggested in Parliament that motor-buses and motor wagons should be used instead of light railways. It was said that much wool was being carried by motor lorry. Another innovation was the service car, which was used in public passenger work in Otago from 1910 onwards. Horses, however, were still used for freighting until after the First World War, mainly because trucks were costly to buy and run. A horse could be shod cheaply and quickly; a set of truck tyres cost £150 or more and often took two days to fit. The war advanced the efficiency and production of motor vehicles and large numbers were available from 1919 onwards, and many returned soldiers were experienced in driving and servicing them.

The following table shows the 10-yearly numbers of trucks, omnibuses, and service cars on the register from 31 December 1925 to 1955, also for 1962 to 1964 (1925 figures for trucks only are available).

*Excludes Government-owned trucks and local body “exempted” trucks, but in the 1964 figures Government-owned trucks are included and local body “exempted” trucks are still excluded.

The growth of the national fleet of commercial vehicles is a significant event of New Zealand's economic history. The railways were the first to feel the effects, and much of the more costly freight traffic was diverted to motor vehicles. The effect is somewhat obscured. Between 1920 and 1930 the tonnage of railway freight traffic rose from 6 million tons to 7,800,000 tons, but it is clear that, but for the competition from road transport, the tonnage carried in 1930 would have been much higher. In the same period fewer passengers were carried in other than the suburban areas. But the motor vehicle made its greatest contribution in the country areas beyond railheads and in urban delivery. It appeared in large numbers during a time when New Zealand was extending its farming frontier. This called for fast, efficient, and economical transport beyond the power of the horse to fulfil, and though horses and railways played a small part, the motor truck filled the need. Road improvements and the invention of pneumatic tyres have increased speeds, loads, and area of operation and have enabled the motor vehicle to exceed even the railways in developmental capacity per unit of capital. But the benefits have not been limited to one industry. The motor vehicle has been a factor of very great importance in the production, for example, of meat and wool and, recently, has shown that it has decisive advantages over its rivals for moving sheep, pigs, and cattle, even over long distances. It has become more and more used in the timber industry and also, though on a more limited scale, in mining.

By 1931 the advantages of motor transport had proved so decisive that the Government decided to limit the activities of road transport to preserve the financial structure of the railways; thus the principle of licensing of road, passenger, and freight-transport services was introduced in the Transport Licensing Act of 1931. It was extended to town carriers, taxicab, and rental vehicle services in 1939, and, in 1949, to harbour-ferry services. This legislation created a partial monopoly in public road transport by limiting entry to the industry. Restrictions on space preclude any analysis of the legislation or of the necessary later amendments, but there is little doubt that the original aim of the legislation to confer on the railways some measure of protection from road transport has been fulfilled. At the same time, the public road-transport industry has expanded considerably, but it is difficult to say just how far its growth has been retarded or its financial results benefited by the licensing legislation.

The efficiency of commercial motor vehicles, such as trucks, as well as omnibuses and service coaches, has advanced considerably in the years following the Second World War. The ratio of horsepower to weight has increased, not only because of improvements in the efficiency of petrol and diesel engines, but also because of the extensive use of alloy metals and plastics in motor bodies. Improved braking systems and transmission, and innovations such as air suspension, have borne fruit in the form of greater safety and comfort for passengers. The use of vehicles specially built to carry certain classes of goods only has been extended. In the dairy industry, which owes so much to the use of the earliest classes of motor vehicles, the modern milk tanker, for example, has brought about considerable economies in the collection and unloading of milk and cream. Much greater use is now made of diesel-engined trucks and passenger-service vehicles from which, in certain classes of work, marked economies can be expected.

Impact on Industry

The introduction of the licensing of passenger and goods services and, later, of town carriers, taxi, and rental-vehicle services has created an industry the ownership of which is represented by influential and highly organised bodies, such as the New Zealand Road Transport Alliance, the New Zealand Carriers' Federation, and other organisations representing the passenger, taxi, and rental-vehicle industries. In the striking development of the industry in the post-war years these bodies have played a significant part by promoting the interests of the operators in every possible way. Since 1938 the goods industry has nearly doubled its fleet of trucks and other specialised vehicles, while the proportional increase in carrying capacity has been even higher. Public carriers now run nearly 21,000 vehicles. There has, nevertheless, been an even greater increase in ancillary transport in vehicles owned by traders, farmers, and all other persons or firms carrying their own goods. In 1938 there were four ancillary trucks for every truck owned by a private operator; today there are seven. Increases in public carriers' charges and the prestige and convenience of owning transport have helped to bring about this increase in ancillary transport. Much of it is used far below full capacity and certainly with less efficiency than is the case with public carriers. Similar reasoning applies to the fleet of over half a million private and business cars using the roads. This is, of course, a manifestation of individual freedom in the free-enterprise economy. No solution to the problem is likely to be found, but it is, nevertheless, a waste of economic resources.

The growth of motor transport can be partially seen in the following estimates for the calendar year 1964.

Privately owned cars carry perhaps at least twice as many passengers as public transport.

Besides the enormous contribution it has made to the farming industry, motor transport is proving indispensable elsewhere – in bulk-haulage work, for example, which only a few years ago was thought the province of the railways. Although there is still a good case for protecting the railways, the legal restrictions on the use of road transport for long distances have tended to create the impression that it is uneconomic for this work, an impression which has been effectively dispelled in many other countries.

The disadvantages of the motor vehicle cannot be overlooked. There has been a heavy toll of deaths and injuries on New Zealand roads. Since 1921 over 10,000 people have been killed and over 250,000 injured, many of them seriously. Though it is hard to assess the economic cost of accidents, it would appear, on a moderate estimate, that at least £15,000,000 a year is now lost. The country's fleet of cars (including business cars) alone costs about £130 million a year to run. Motor vehicles have not yet caused air pollution in New Zealand, as they have done elsewhere, but such effects will in time appear. Any realistic assessment of the economic and social contribution of the motor vehicle cannot ignore these facts.

by Norman Frederick Watkins, M.COM., Research Officer, Transport Department, Wellington.

ROBB, Sir George Douglas, C.M.G.

(1899– ).

Thoracic surgeon.

A new biography of Robb, George Douglas appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

George Douglas Robb was born at Mount Roskill, Auckland, on 29 April 1899 and educated at Auckland Grammar School and the University of Otago. From 1923 to 1928 he undertook postgraduate studies in London and, afterwards, returned to New Zealand and began to practise surgery in Auckland. He was vice-president of the Auckland Medical Foundation in 1940 and has been a member of the New Zealand Medical Council since 1941, of the New Zealand Medical Research Council since 1951, and president of the British Medical Association, 1961–62. Since 1942 he has been senior thoracic surgeon at Greenlane Hospital, Auckland. In 1938 he was elected to Auckland University College Council, later becoming its vice-president and pro-chancellor. From 1948 to 1961 Robb was a member of the University of New Zealand Senate and, since then, has been Chancellor of the University of Auckland. He received the C.M.G. in 1956 and was knighted in 1960. Sir Douglas is the author of the following publications: Medicine and Health in New Zealand (1947); Health Services or Doctors and Hospitals (1942); Hospital Reform in New Zealand (1949) (with S. B. Morris); and University Development in Auckland (1957).

ROBIN, Major-General Sir Alfred William, K.C.M.G., C.B., Chevalier of the Legion of Honour

(1860–1935).

Soldier and administrator.

A new biography of Robin, Alfred William appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

General Robin was born in Australia in 1860 and came to Dunedin with his parents in 1864. He was educated at the Union Street School and the Otago Boys' High School, and was apprenticed to his father, a well-known North Dunedin coach-builder, James Robin. The family business, a lucrative one, contented him for many years, but in the meantime he was devoting all his spare time, and not a little of the firm's, to the volunteer service, which was one of the prime diversions of energetic youth in those days. He joined the Mounted Rifles, and when he reached the rank of captain in the Otago Hussars he had started along a road which more than once in the seventies and eighties brought the highest military preference. He led the New Zealand Mounted Troop at Queen Victoria's Jubilee in London in 1897, and on his return, despite his mature years, he forsook the security of the family business for a permanency in the New Zealand Forces. He assumed command of the Otago Mounted Rifles, and then became mounted infantry instructor to the New Zealand Forces. It was in this capacity that he was given command of the 1st New Zealand Contingent in the South African War, in which he won the Queen's Medal, with five clasps. On his return, while commander of the Otago Military District, he was awarded the C.B. Seven years later he joined the General Staff, and in 1912, as General Officer Commanding the New Zealand Forces, he went to London as New Zealand representative on the Imperial General Staff. He left Whitehall on his return to New Zealand in 1914, and during the First World War commanded the New Zealand Forces at home. When he retired from the forces in 1920 he was created K.C.M.G., and accepted the post of Acting Administrator of Samoa, which had only just passed into New Zealand jurisdiction. He spent two years in Samoa and retired to Wellington in 1922, where he died, unmarried, on 2 June 1935.

General Robin belonged to an age when military rank carried distinction as such. War still retained a romantic flavour, and his exploits in South Africa had won for him a wide public. In his retirement, he devoted most of his energies to the Boy Scout movement, only recently created by Lord Baden-Powell, for whom he had a lively admiration. There was an idealistic touch to his character which made complete retirement impossible, and for a quarter of a century he identified himself actively and enthusiastically with the Boy Scout movement. His services were recognised two years before his death with the award of the Order of the Silver Wolf, a distinction of which he was extremely proud.

by Ronald Jones, Journalist and Script Writer, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Wellington.

Evening Post, 3 Jun 1935 (Obit).

ROBINSON, Sir Hercules George Robert, Bt., First Baron Rosmead, P.C., G.C.M.G., Kt.

(1824–97).

Tenth Governor of New Zealand.

Sir Hercules Robinson was born on 19 December 1824, second of the six sons of Admiral Hercules Robinson of Rosmead, Westmeath, Ireland; and Frances Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Widman Wood, of Rosmead. He was educated at Sandhurst and commissioned in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, but in 1846 accepted appointment under the Public Works Commissioners for Ireland and rendered notable service during the Irish famine (1848). He became President of Monserrat (1854–55), and Lieutenant Governor of St. Christophers (1855–59), before being appointed Governor of Hong Kong (1859–65). He was there during the China War (1860–61) and negotiated the cession of Kowloon.

He served on a commission to investigate public finances in Straits Settlements (1863), and from 1865 to 1872 was Governor of Ceylon, where he organised railway, cable, and telegraph extensions. He became Governor of New South Wales (1872–79), where his personal firmness did much to teach local politicians that affairs of state came before personal interests. While there, he negotiated at Suva (1874) for the cession of Fiji. He succeeded Normanby as Governor of New Zealand on 17 April 1879 in the last months of the Grey Ministry. Native troubles were pending, but Robinson had not fully mastered the problem before (September 1880) he was appointed Governor of Cape Colony and British High Commissioner for South Africa. There he displayed “rare tact and sagacity” in negotiating peace after the first Boer War (1881), and in handling the Bechuanaland troubles (1881–85) which culminated in the annexation of that territory. His term was twice extended until his retirement on 1 May 1889. He was created Baronet (1891). When, however, British-Boer relations deteriorated, Robinson was brought from retirement to resume the Governorship of South Africa on 30 May 1895. There, his tactful management of the situation consequent upon Jameson's Raid prevented war, and earned for him a Peerage (11 August 1896). Ill health forced his retirement on 23 April 1897, and he returned to London, where he died at 42 Prince's Gardens on 28 October 1897.

On 24 April 1846 Robinson married Nea Arthur Ada Rose D'Amour, sixth daughter of Arthur Annesley Rath, Viscount Valentia, by whom he had one son and three daughters.

His connection with 11 British colonies reveal the Imperial authorities' high appreciation of his ability, while his seven Governorships might appear to parallel, or even exceed, the labours of his classical namesake. A younger brother, Sir W. C. F. Robinson, was also a successful colonial Governor.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Rulers & Statesmen of New Zealand, Gisborne, W. (1897)
• The Times (London), 29 Oct 1897 (Obit).